Subject: Ackanomic Digest V1 #366
From: [email-masked] (Ackanomic Digest)
To: ackanomic-digest

Ackanomic Digest     Wednesday, November 27 1996     Volume 01 : Number 366

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 23:14:38 -0900
From: [email-masked] (Acting Tabulator)
Subject: Re: Acka: Results 

>Oops, my error.  P1429 was received at wilma at 11:45 CST, or 12:45 EST,
>after the end of the bond cycle.  I will post the end-of-bond-cycle scores
>in a moment.  The dates in the header show it left snowgod's mail server
>at 08:44 -0900 (i.e., one minute before) so the tie-up was all at snowgod's
>end.
>
>/dev/joe
>bitten by time zones

I'd be willing to believe that (god knows my ISP has been kinda scratchy
lately) but in this case I know it is not true.  All of the original voting
results were sent out at 2:45 AM.  At 8:44 this morning I recieved
malenkai's notice that he had not recieved the voting results for 1429-1444
(and I realized I had not either) so I sent them off again.  I suppose the
original 1429-1444 are floating around in the ether somewhere between here
in Wilma (since /dev/joe's logs show that they never arrived there).  I
guess we'll never know.

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 23:14:48 -0900
From: [email-masked] (Acting Tabulator)
Subject: Re: Acka: Results 

> I will try to fix the Tabulator rule,
>perhaps, and ask that in the meantime snowgod distribute them in order
>until this is fixed.

Hey hey hey!

i am making every effort to distribut e these in order.  I think Eudora
reverse sorts them one by one by title before sending them out in a batch
queue.  The only thing I can think of, and I guess what I will have to do,
is send them out individually.  no batches.

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Mon, 25 Nov 1996 23:14:42 -0900
From: [email-masked] (Acting Tabulator)
Subject: Re: Acka: Auction Stuff 

>On Thu, 21 Nov 1996, Mohammed wrote:
>>       I am building a second Pyraic Frobnotzer.  It'll be done in three
>> days.
>        This is done.  Let the auction begin!
>        Now, let's see, what should I build next...?
>
>--Mohammed

I bid A$39.

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 14:27:03 -0500 (EST)
From: mr cwm <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  CSR 109 accepted

To:   Ackanomians
From: mr cwm

As /dev/joe has already pointed out, CSR 109 was accepted on 24 Nov.

Is there a sense that there is something else out there that needs fixing
in addition to the }} at the end of R1445?

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 19:59:11 GMT
From: Simon Clarke <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Retiring from game

I think it was Arthur Dent in Hitchhikers Guide who said: "I seem to be 
having terrible trouble with my lifestyle". I know how he felt.

I seem to be overcommitted in all directions and leisure time is just
a distant dream at the moment.

I`ve been without online connection for most of the last three weeks
and when I have been able to get online I have had no time at all to
attend to matters Acka. I have a vast backlog of Ackamail and no
prospect of finding any time to catch up on it.

In the circumstances the only sensible thing to do is resign from the
game. Maybe I will be able to rejoin at a later date. Acka is a fine
game with some great people in it. I wish you all the best and hope to
be in touch again sometime in the future.

Brinjal

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:27:38 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1487

Proposal 1487 -- Tue 26 Nov 15:23 CST 1996
A Truly Deplorable Pun
Guy Fawkes (Robert Shimmin)

This is a modest proposal.  Add the following text to the end of rule 306:

There also exists the Great Tuba of Ackanomic, a unique entity.  Whenever 
the Magic Potato is transferred from one player to another, the Great 
Tuba is given to the player who just lost the Magic Potato.  The holder 
of the Great Tuba scores two extra points whenever one of his proposals passes.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:27:55 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1488

Proposal 1488 -- Tue 26 Nov 15:23 CST 1996
Making Towers Useful
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)

Amend rule 841, "Towers", by adding the following new section at the end:

9) Each building with an Ostentatious Tower also has a basement capable of
holding one player for each 20 meters in the combined height of all towers
on that building.  When a Tornado strikes, if the total number of players
in a building with a basement who are not otherwise sheltered is less
than or equal to the capacity of the basement, then all those players
manage to escape to the basement and are sheltered.  If there are too many
such players in a building, then while fighting to get into the basement,
none of them manage to get in before the tornado hits.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:28:27 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1489

Proposal 1489 -- Tue 26 Nov 15:24 CST 1996
Counter-Action fix
Niccolo Flychuck

This is a Modest Proposal.
In R1369.1 append the following text as section 11 d:
"
An Otzma Card can be Countered at most once.
"

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:28:52 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1490

Proposal 1490 --Tue 26 Nov 15:24 CST 1996
Otzma Card Type Blank
Mohammed (Jason Orendorff)

A new Rule is created as a member of the Otzma Cards Rule Suite; it is
titled "Otzma Card Type Blank", and reads:
- ---
The Runemaker has the Duty of calling a Hearing sometime in the week
leading up to the first Friday in January, 1997, to determine the ability
and counteraction of blank Otzma cards.  The valid responses will be the
letters A, B, and C; at the time the Runemaker calls the Hearing he must,
in order to fulfill the Duty, post three separate paragraphs, one each
labelled A, B, and C, which are possible definitions for an Otzma Card
type.  (The Runemaker is encouraged to take submissions for possible Blank
Otzma Card actions inbetweentimes, and use his favorite submissions as A,
B, and C.)

When such a Hearing ends, if the verdict indicates one of the paragraphs
in the Runemaker's message, the paragraph following "played:" below shall be
replaced with the paragraph indicated by the verdict.  Then, the month 
and year in the first paragraph of this rule shall be changed to indicate 
the next following month on the Julian calendar that will last for 31 days.

Until that Hearing occurs, when a Blank Otzma Card is played:

A chicken shall flop out from the Runemaker's robes and chase the Players
around.  The Players can run, but they can't hide.  After three days of
chasing, the Players shall collapse in a heap, the chicken shall bite them
all, and they shall all then have chicken fever, indefinitely. 
Counteraction:  the chicken shall be struck with a Ray of Chicken
Expansion and a bolt of lightning from the sky, in quick succession, and
the Players shall all have fried chicken (and no tea) for a week.
- ---

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:29:24 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Proposal 1491

Proposal 1491 -- Tue 26 Nov 15:24 CST 1996
Renting Bugs
/dev/joe (Joseph DeVincentis)

This is a Modest Proposal.

Amend rule 1323, "Rental", by changing
  "trade them to Player A."
at the end of the third paragraph to
  "trade them to Player A, or any action permitted by an immutable rule; if
   he trades them to Player A, or if they leave Player B's possesion in any
   other way, the rental period ends when Player B no longer possesses them."
and delete from the fifth paragraph the text:
  ", unless player A is no longer in the game, in which case Player B
   becomes their owner for all purposes"

{{[ As it stands now, you could rent something to another player that you
will soon have to give up for whatever reason, have him trade it back early,
lose it as some rule requires, and then get it back later when the rental
period ends.  The rule prevents this abuse with A$, but it could happen
with other things.  I'm not sure if any such things exist now, but the
original Magic Potato could be traded (though it would still get
reassigned as usual); by playing this trick, the potato's owner could keep
stealing it back every time it was reassigned.  When PF bonds partly
reverted to their original owners at end-of-cycle, you could do this with
PFbonds too. ]}}

Amend rule 962.2 by renumbering the steps 2 through 7 in the procedure
when a player leaves the game to be steps 3 through 8, and inserting the
following after step 1:
  "2) All entities e is renting from other players return to their previous
   owners.  All entities e is renting to other players become fully owned
   by the players renting them, and the rental periods of those entities end."

{{[ The recent amendment of the rental rule has made it fall prey to the
giant axe of rule 108, since it prevents a player renting an object from
leaving the game, as this would cause him to no longer possess the entity. ]}}

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 15:34:50 -0600 (CST)
From: Guy Fawkes <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: not exactly Vacation

Fellow Ackanomians--

I am taking a real life vacation for the next few days.  Unfortunately, I 
failed to think of finding a new Wrangler when I released the GAD stuff 
yesterday and since the length of my break will be shorter than the any 
requirements of the speed rule, I think the option of least disruption 
to the sub- game will be for me to simply not officially go on vacation.  I 
apologize for any delays this may cause in promoting or in donkey.

Guy Fawkes
don't blow up the game while I'm gone

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:07:36 -0500 (EST)
From: mr cwm <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka:  Overwhelmed

To:   Ackanomians
From: mr cwm

Does anyone else think Ackanomic has developed unfortunately?  I used to
know all the rules, and could make an informed decision about the effects
of any given proposal.  Now I pretty much vote for proposals that sound
like good ideas, with very little concept of how they will affect the rule
set as a whole.

I guess I'm overwhelmed by the size of the rule set, and the rapidity with
which it changes.  There were discussions long ago about limiting the rate
at which proposals could be submitted (and at one time they could only
include one rule change).  Is there any interest in reviving those
discussions?

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 16:20:42 -0600
From: Mitchell Harding <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka:  Overwhelmed 

>Does anyone else think Ackanomic has developed unfortunately?  I used to
>know all the rules, and could make an informed decision about the effects
>of any given proposal.  Now I pretty much vote for proposals that sound
>like good ideas, with very little concept of how they will affect the rule
>set as a whole.
>
>I guess I'm overwhelmed by the size of the rule set, and the rapidity with
>which it changes.  There were discussions long ago about limiting the rate
>at which proposals could be submitted (and at one time they could only
>include one rule change).  Is there any interest in reviving those
>discussions?

I don't think it has developed unfortunately, I just think it needs more
players, and like our society, lawyers. I don't mean the typical concept of
lawyer as a prosecutor, but rather as a legal expert. I have just submitted
a proposal to create Experts in areas of the rules. Undoubtedly for every
area of the rules that exists, there is someone who is familiar with it. So
I suggest we allow people to declare themselves Experts in a given area.
These Experts would be in charge of assisting anyone in understanding their
area of expertise, in assisting people judging CFJs (they would advise,
point out rules, etc), and most importantly they would go through the rules
in their area and try to systemitize and clarify them. We would have to
introduce some mechanism whereby they could alter the rules with approval
from some committee.

Basically I think that if we consolidate and simplify the rules, as well as
having people who are Experts in a given area, it would make things a lot
better. I don't like the idea of cutting down on new rules, we just need to
make sure we can handle them. Once we get a good system for organizing our
rules, and for having people who can help interpret them, then we should
advertise Acka a lot, and get more people. We need new people, people who
are excited and will ask questions (of the Experts and their Mentors) and
will make Acka thrive.

I just wrote all of this really quickly, and I'd like to discuss this with
everyone so we can get Acka back on track.

Robert Sevin,
Wearing a Silly Vacation Hat

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 18:01:56 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka:  Overwhelmed

Mitchell Harding wrote:

> Basically I think that if we consolidate and simplify the rules, as well as
> having people who are Experts in a given area, it would make things a lot
> better. I don't like the idea of cutting down on new rules, we just need to
> make sure we can handle them. Once we get a good system for organizing our
> rules, and for having people who can help interpret them, then we should
> advertise Acka a lot, and get more people. We need new people, people who
> are excited and will ask questions (of the Experts and their Mentors) and
> will make Acka thrive.

Me too post :).

I have a rather large RFC in my mind to eliminate the mutable/immutable
distinction, which I think can be confusing and adds no value, and to
consolidate some more rules.  I will try to post it tonite.  I have been
trying to consolidate rules along the way; unfortunately that has led to
some of these overwhelming proposals.

I would like to move some of the rules around as well.  I have been trying
to do this piecemeal in proposals along the way.  I believe this will make
the rules less intimiditing.

I do agree that publicizing the game and bringing in new players is
a high priority.  I do not have USENET access, so I have been working on
it more from the simplify the rules angle.

Malenkai

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 18:17:57 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Retiring from game

Simon Clarke wrote:

> In the circumstances the only sensible thing to do is resign from the
> game. Maybe I will be able to rejoin at a later date. Acka is a fine
> game with some great people in it. I wish you all the best and hope to
> be in touch again sometime in the future.

1) I am nominating and casting a support vote for Brinjal for the Hall
of Elders.  Brinjal brought us the Trombone, Parades, Modesty, and
those wonderful Gaoler poems, has been around since the early days,
had a Harfy outlook on the game, and has taught me to take the game
less seriously.  He also has the best SwingScore at Party Chess, and
always voted for my proposals :)

2) I am conducting a nomination for the following offices:

NAP Swinger
Gaoler

e-mail me if you wish one of these offices.
The Chess-Umpire should let us know what happens to the Party Chess
game state.

3) I, as well as many other players, will be away for the Thanksgiving
Holiday.  Seeing as several players are on vacation, and the Web-Harfer,
Scorekeeper, Promoter, Speaker, Cotc, etc will be gone for a few days,
I encourage the President to consider declaring all or part of the Holiday
weekend a Holiday.  I will not be going on vacation as I do not want the
Machine to teleport away from the Castle, probably to someone else who
will not be active over the Holiday anyway.

Malenkai

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:38:56 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Auction Stuff

> Mohammed, any opinions?  I believe since I am the auctioneer, even though
> I don't do anything, it ends 3 days from the date of this post.
	Has this happened before?  If so, we have game custom to factor 
in, and I think the rule (R1023) is too vague to stand on its own.
	I'm leaning the other way, actually, but if contrary game custom
exists, good.

- --Mohammed

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:48:18 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: A terrible abuse of power

> Change a mutable rule to include the self-deleting text to suspend the 
> ban on retroactivity, state that the rules in question were applied in 
> numerical order, and then "permanently" add a provision to prevent this 
> sort of thing from happening again.
	*rofl*  I for one would object to that one.  There's no telling 
what kind of demons would break loose.

- --Mohammed

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 19:00:37 -0600 (CST)
From: Jason Orendorff <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: RFC Pinkerton

This is an RFC, not a proposal.

Enjoy.  (I spent *hours* trimming this from six pages to 3.  Now it's 5.  
*odd look*  Pine has very short pages.)

1.  Rule 870 ("Self Deleting Text") is hereby repealed.

[Don't worry, braces will work exactly as before, and this proposal adds
a bunch of new stuff.  It also ensures that multiple events in
self-deleting text go off in order, not at once!  Some extra stuff was
necessary to keep triggers from setting things off; that's where
Pinkerton came from.]

[The big question is, of course, "is it worth all this extra text?"]

2.  A new rule, titled "Triggers", is created, reading:
- ---
Pinkerton is a unique, unownable entity that never sleeps.  Pinkerton is
always either watching or working.

A paragraph or group of paragraphs that matches any of the three forms
below is a trigger, if in place of <event> there is a phrase specifying a
particular time or event (henceforth referred to as the "trigger") and in
place of <changes> there is a description of zero or more changes to the
game state. 

	{{ <changes> }}
	upon <event> : { <changes> }
	whenever <event> : { <changes> }

[Synopsis: Triggers of the first type are applied once, when they are
added to the rule set, and are then deleted.  Triggers of the second
type are applied when the <event> occurs and then deleted.  Triggers of
the third type act the same but are not deleted.]

When it becomes publicly knowable that the event or time specified in
the <event> part of a trigger in a Rule happened or passed while
Pinkerton was watching, that trigger goes off, and Pinkerton adds it to
the end of his list of triggered triggers.  A trigger with double braces
goes off as soon as it appears in a Rule and Pinkerton is watching.  If
more than one trigger goes off at once, Pinkerton adds them to the end
of his list in the order in which they appear in a numerical listing of
the Rules.

Any time there is at least one trigger on Pinkerton's list, and
Pinkerton is watching, he immediately stops watching and starts working.
Then:

He applies whatever changes are described in the <changes> part of the
first trigger on his list, in the order in which they appear and as fast
as possible, acting with the authority of the Rule containing the
trigger.  If other Rules would prevent Pinkerton from applying a certain
change, he skips it.  When he finishes, the trigger might have to be
deleted.  If the trigger began with "whenever", Pinkerton leaves it
alone (it's a permanent trigger).  If the trigger has been deleted,
moved, or modified since Pinkerton added it to his list, Pinkerton
leaves it alone.  Otherwise, he erases it from the Rule in which it
appeared.  Once that is settled, he scratches the first trigger (and any
others that don't exist anymore) off his list.  If the list is now
empty, he's done.  Otherwise, he repeats the process described in this
paragraph.

When Pinkerton is done, he stops working and starts watching again. 

{{
This rule is renumbered to 251.  [Pink's gotta have authority.]

Rule 545 ("Notes and Comments") is renumbered to 250.  [The two language
rules.  I've always thought they should be together-- and that Notes
should have very high precedence!]

Two right braces, like the ones after the end of this sentence, are
appended to Rule 1445.

All curly braces in Rule 1240 ("The Machine That Goes *ping*") are
replaced with angle brackets: '{' is replaced with '<' wherever it
appears; likewise '}' is replaced with '>'.
}}

- ---

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 19:12:24 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: RFC Pinkerton

> This is an RFC, not a proposal.

> 2.  A new rule, titled "Triggers", is created, reading:
> ---
> Pinkerton is a unique, unownable entity that never sleeps.  Pinkerton is
> always either watching or working.
> 
> A paragraph or group of paragraphs that matches any of the three forms
> below is a trigger, if in place of <event> there is a phrase specifying a
> particular time or event (henceforth referred to as the "trigger") and in
> place of <changes> there is a description of zero or more changes to the
> game state. 
> 
> 	{{ <changes> }}
> 	upon <event> : { <changes> }
> 	whenever <event> : { <changes> }
 [...]
> All curly braces in Rule 1240 ("The Machine That Goes *ping*") are
> replaced with angle brackets: '{' is replaced with '<' wherever it
> appears; likewise '}' is replaced with '>'.

Fine, but try to use something other than < and >, because I always
have to replace those when I put stuff on the web page, since they
are otherwise taken as HTML codes.

/dev/joe

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:30:27 -0800 (PST)
From: Brian Raiter <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: RFC Pinkerton

> > 	{{ <changes> }}
> > 	upon <event> : { <changes> }
> > 	whenever <event> : { <changes> }
>  [...]
> > All curly braces in Rule 1240 ("The Machine That Goes *ping*") are
> > replaced with angle brackets: '{' is replaced with '<' wherever it
> > appears; likewise '}' is replaced with '>'.
> 
> Fine, but try to use something other than < and >, because I always
> have to replace those when I put stuff on the web page, since they
> are otherwise taken as HTML codes.

I would also feel better if all the triggers were completely enclosed
in special characters (such as having the "upon <event> :" part also
be inside the curly braces). The syntax should attempt to be as
unambiguous as possible.

Otherwise, I approve wholeheartedly of Pinkerton.

b

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 17:32:51 -0900
From: [email-masked] (Acting Tabulator)
Subject: Hall of Elders Confirmation 

As Malenkai eloquently spoke:

>1) I am nominating and casting a support vote for Brinjal for the Hall
>of Elders.  Brinjal brought us the Trombone, Parades, Modesty, and
>those wonderful Gaoler poems, has been around since the early days,
>had a Harfy outlook on the game, and has taught me to take the game
>less seriously.  He also has the best SwingScore at Party Chess, and
>always voted for my proposals :)

I am casting my support vote in favor of Brinjal's nomination to the hall
of elders, and encourage eveyone to do the same.

snowgod

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 21:58:12 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph W. DeVincentis" <devjoe>
Subject: Re: Acka: Brinjal Retiring from game

Malenkai wrote:
> 1) I am nominating and casting a support vote for Brinjal for the Hall
> of Elders.  Brinjal brought us the Trombone, Parades, Modesty, and
> those wonderful Gaoler poems, has been around since the early days,
> had a Harfy outlook on the game, and has taught me to take the game
> less seriously.  He also has the best SwingScore at Party Chess, and
> always voted for my proposals :)

I support Brinjal for the Hall of ELders.

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 23:47:59 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Acka: Whamiol

Time is running short!  Only A$125 will get you your very own Whamiol.
Don't be left out when we start recruiting new players.

Malenkai

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 23:52:25 -0500
From: Malenkai <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Auction Stuff

Jason Orendorff wrote:
> 
> > Mohammed, any opinions?  I believe since I am the auctioneer, even though
> > I don't do anything, it ends 3 days from the date of this post.
>         Has this happened before?  If so, we have game custom to factor
> in, and I think the rule (R1023) is too vague to stand on its own.
>         I'm leaning the other way, actually, but if contrary game custom
> exists, good.

Game custom indicates the Auctioneer starts the auction by public
announcement.  The problem is that R 1023 has been changed a few times
to take away the duties, etc of the auctioneer, but has not defined
that there *is* no auctioneer for a public auction anymore.

I actually like it this way, so there is some sort of definitive start
to the auction announced to the public forum, as some players may not
realise that the auction is starting otherwise.

Malenkai

------------------------------

Date: Tue, 26 Nov 1996 20:00:33 -0900 (AKST)
From: Phil Ackley <[email-masked]>
Subject: Re: Acka: Whamiol

On Tue, 26 Nov 1996, Malenkai wrote:

> Time is running short!  Only A$125 will get you your very own Whamiol.
> Don't be left out when we start recruiting new players.
> 
> Malenkai

I offer A$90 (gonna be needing my money soon)

snowgod
who has almost splurged away his inheritence

------------------------------

End of Ackanomic Digest V1 #366
*******************************